AUM rededicates library named for beloved former president

April 15, 2014

YELLOW SPRINGS — In recognition of former Antioch President Dr. Douglas McGregor (1948-1954) Antioch University Midwest rededicated its campus library on Saturday afternoon.

Dr. McGregor (1906-1964), renowned American management theorist, is a fitting inspirational figure for a university noted for its humanitarian approach and dedicated to the personal and professional development of its students. He was chosen as the inspiration for the naming of the McGregor School, which became Antioch University McGregor, and is now known as Antioch University Midwest.

“Having the legacy of Douglas McGregor so prominently displayed here at Antioch University Midwest is something we’ve long wanted to do,” said current AUM President Dr. Karen Schuster Webb. “We honor and continue the legacy and the great work of Douglas McGregor.”

McGregor was a groundbreaking theorist whose ideas, though widely questioned at the time, have become basic assumptions of today’s leaders in the organizational management field.

“Dr. McGregor recognized the highest potentials of the human being and believed that if we appealed to these capacities people would respond, and all would benefit,” said James Malarkey, Ph.D – Chair, Humanities and General Education Program. “Dr. McGregor believed in business and in making a profit. He also believed that if business owners treated their employees well, took an interest in them, encouraged them, and helped them grow personally and professionally their businesses would also reap the benefits.”

“Libraries are more than book storage units,” Shaw said. “They are the heart of communities; committed to where their patrons work, live and study. They are trusted places for people to shape and address local issues. This space is where our students meet, share, study, laugh, create, publish and dream—as individuals or in groups. In the spirit of Dr. McGregor, we daily see a multitude of diverse voices in intellectual conversation.”

The rededication reception also kicked off The McGregor Library’s celebration of National Library Week.

To commemorate National Library Week, The McGregor Library is offering to help students with their overdue library fines. Students can return overdue books through April 26 along with a non-perishable food item and the the first $10 of their library fine will be waived. All donated food will benefit the Yellow Springs United Methodist Church food bank.

This does not apply to lost books, books that are not ready to return, or fines that have already been paid.